Straight as an arrow
by DjSolace
Summary: Four Republic Commandos and a unit of clone troopers are tasked with informing Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of top secret information they have recently uncovered. The actions of one of their own sets off a course of events that will change their lives, and the Galaxy, forever. (My first fanfiction, rated T for Star Wars-esque violence and swearing. Constructive criticism welcomed.
1. Chapter 1

Captain CT-7537 "Wasp" entered the chamber of the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, with a unit of Hornet platoon troopers behind him, and Republic Commandos 'Ulysses' and 'Achilles' following.

They had heard loud noises coming from this very room, but as Wasp walked inside he noticed that everything appeared to be in place. If it hadn't been for Palpatine sitting in his chair with a frightened expression on his face, and the ex-Wolfpack Commando who was in an aggressive stance, he would have thought it was just his ears playing tricks on him.  
"Sweep!" Ulysses ordered.

Wasp went forward, DC15S at the ready, his men following a moment afterward, and it was all clear, no assailants behind the furniture, no blaster marks, nothing. Achilles and Ulysses went over to Alpha Sixty, the commando who appeared ready to tear poor Palpatine's head off was on the left side of the room, a good distance away from the Chancellor. "What happened here?" Ulysses inquired.  
Chancellor Palpatine rose up in his chair and pointed a finger at Alpha Sixty "Seize him! he attempted to murder me!"  
Even though all of the troopers wore helmets, Wasp could tell Alpha Sixty was glaring daggers at Palpatine. The Commando maintained his combat stance and let loose words that sounded more like a roar then a statement. "HE IS A SITH!"  
Ulysses stood still for a moment, briefly considering what Alpha just said. "Got any proof?"

Wasp had two of his troopers next to the large window, only a short distance behind Palatine's chair. The rest took up positions around the room, while Wasp and a Sergeant walked over and saw Alpha Sixty uploading recorded data to a holographic transmitting device.

The hologram was activated and played a fast paced recording of a figure with two lightsabers violently slashing at Alpha Six, nearly tearing him to pieces several times over, the bright red blades never hitting the floor or furniture, but despite the finesse of his attacker, the Republic Commando was able to survive until the picture suddenly blurred and the device ceased recording.  
Achilles stated what was on the minds of Ulysses and Wasp:

"That wasn't the Chancellor..."  
"They both tried to kill me! Now arrest the Commando responsible!" Palpatine exclaimed from his chair.

"Hold everything, Sir. We have to search your desk." Ulysses said calmly, walking towards the desk and opening the drawers in three swift movements, he felt around and activated a secret compartment, in which there were two deactivated lightsabers, they were entirely identical, and colored silver, gold, and bronze. The buttons matched the size of Chancellor Palpatine's fingers.

The others took a few steps forward and met him in the centre of the room, Palpatine began to rise from his chair as they viewed the lightsabers. Wasp was shocked, his expression behind his helmet was that of pure horror, the man at the centre of the Galactic Republic was the leader of a grand conspiracy that had set the galaxy on it's knees! He had fooled everyone!

Ulysses took a moment to examine the sabers, aiming them upwards, and at that moment Darth Sidious arose, off of the chair from which he has mislead so many millions of beings, and secretly organized the deaths of many more innocents, activated the lightsabers, and gathered them into his hands as the Commandos rolled to the sides of the chamber, ready to engage him.  
The three Commandos fired upon the menacing figure with their DC-17m blasters, but quickly resorted to close combat tactics as Sidious engaged them, his sabers whirling in a manner that would have utterly destroyed most other opponents.

But this Sith had never dealt with fully trained Republic Commando. Wasp and his Troopers got to their senses and started firing blasts at Darth Sidious, but he deflected every last one and still managed to hold off the three RCs that were hounded at him like war dogs off of a leash.  
The Hornets were merely an elite platoon belonging to the 373rd Arrowhead battalion, 800 Republic clones outfitted with armor that was much stronger then that of the average trooper. This made fighting powerful opponents a little easier, because they could withstand so many blaster bolts at one time. Because of this, they were unfazed by the deflected shots.

The door leading to the Chancellor's chamber chimed open, and a column of senate commandos and several blue garbed senate guardsmen entered, weapons raised, they seemed unsure of who their enemy was.  
Sidious let out a growl as he was beaten back, one of his lightsabers lost during the close combat, and shouted "Kill them all!" before nearly taking Alpha's head off with a well aimed saber strike.  
The senate commandos received dozens of blaster bolts from behind, and they all fell to the floor, with only one of the surviving, crawling along the floor for his weapon, and before the poor man could grab hold of it, a dark red boot stomped down on his helmet, and a force pike was run through his back, piercing armor and flesh alike.

Two red guards, the elite of Palpatine's defenders, charged through the doorway, with the blue garbed guardsmen aiding them. In a set of swift movements they had killed the senate commandos, and now rushed for or fired upon the soldiers of Hornet platoon. Captain Wasp got into a crouch and quickly fired several bursts from his DC15S, killing a guard and wounding another, before the troopers to his near left and right found themselves in a close quarters battle.  
They nearly lost. Achilles had taken advantage of his fellows distracting their opponent so that he could shoot at the guards, many of which dropped dead under the steady fire of the weapon that was designed for use by the Republic's elite commandos. Wasp quickly drew his attention towards Alpha Sixty, who was about to be cut into pieces by a saber thrust he couldn't possibly dodge. There was no room to maneuver.  
"Even when discovered, I am victorious!" Darth Sidious bellowed, slicing off Alpha Sixty's left arm and moving to strike a barrage of blows.

He was nearly kicked in the stomach and was then leg dropped by the combined efforts of Ulysses and Alpha Sixty, but right before he fell, his lightsaber struck twice, with both strokes killing two Hornet troopers, one to his left and one to his right. The halves fell to the floor, the last of Hornet platoon, other then Wasp, had fallen.

The commandos kicked the Chancellor's downed body with what looked like enough blows to kill a man, and Wasp shot the surviving senate guardsmen in the doorway. The commandos decided to seat the corpse in the chair from which he had committed so many injustices against the Galactic Republic and the entire galaxy, and placed the lightsabers in his lap.  
Loud footsteps could be heard from the hallway, confirming the thoughts of Wasp and the Commandos: The entire senate was on alert. They had to leave. Now.


	2. Fire and fall

CT-7537, nicknamed Wasp, was running for his life. Granted, he wasn't alone. It's good to run with friends.

They had exited the Chancellor's chamber after kicking his sorry Sith backside, and they had at Senate Commandos on their tails, but they would most likely outrun them-

The RC nicknamed Achilles turned the corner and nearly tripped over himself as large blue beams hit the wall all around him. A bunch of the Senate's finest were getting into position, crouching or standing with their sights aimed down.

Achilles raised his hands and tried to calm them down. "Hey, it's not what it looks like-"

Blasterfire was his only response. Ulysses, Alpha Sixty, and Wasp returned fire, their combined support effectively destroying the hallway infront of them, along with the men who had stood in their way.

Alpha Sixty and the Republic commandos ran up and out of the hallway, nearing the second floor exit. Wasp tried to catch up, but a Senate guard ran out of a sidedoor and smashed him up against a wall.

The guard had a feather white crest on his helmet, denoting an elite rank amongst the guards men. He was also smashing his blaster rifle against Wasp while attempting to draw his ceremonial vibro blade.

The leader of the deceased Hornet platoon was barely able to overpower the man, allowing him to draw his knife and repeatedly stab it through the guard's visor, until he fell to the floor and stopped breathing. Captain Wasp continued running for the exit that led to the overview of the first floor, floors and hand rails surrounded an opening on four sides, allowing Senators of the Galactic Republic to converse while watching the daily hustle and goings on of the people entering the building.

His thoughts raced faster almost as fast as the rate of his heart. He had been forced to shoot and maul several men who were probably innocent in the Chancellor's doings! These men were not Clones, they CHOSE this line of work!

The three RCs had used their grappling hooks to rapidly descend from the second floor, and continued to run and shoot with solid ground underneath their feet. They had gotten clear of the building when they noticed that Arrowhead trooper was missing.

"Achilles, go get him! We'll cover you!" Alpha shouted at the top of his lungs while he and Ulysses fired on the few defenders outside of the senate building.

Wasp had made it to the overview and saw Achilles running towards him, firing blindly at senate commandos while switching to his grappling hook attatchment. Wasp held up his hand, the RC was momentarily distracted by a large group of guards entering the overveiw from the other side of the railings. Wasp knew he didn't have time to use his grappling hook, and heard the blasterfire coming from behind him, so he did what any reasonable individual would do.

Fire and fall. He grabbed a dead guard's DC15A and jumped off of the railing, more like falling, really, while wildly firing with both weapons at the pursuers on each side of the overview. He hit the floor with a loud THUD and dropped the large rifle, leaning on Achilles while sweeping the entrance to the building using his DC15S, the smaller variant that he had entered the Chancellor's chambers with.


	3. An arrow may fall

They had escaped the interior of the senate building, killing many of it's guardsmen in the process, but they were far from safe. When Wasp and Achilles left the building, they found Ulysses firing at several Clone Troopers from behind a piece of cover, with his weapon on stun mode. He would NOT kill his brothers!

Achilles left Captain Wasp and joined the shootout, crouching behind a piece of cover to the far right and questioning Ulysses.

"Where's Alpha!?"

"He went to get something!"

"Is it gonna save our hides? Because I'm betting we have five seconds before the ENTIRE STANGIN' REPUBLIC ARMY is up in our faces!"

CT-7537, Wasp, was going to be of little use. He had left his DC15x Sniper rifle back at the barracks, and he had half jumped and half fell from the overview on the second floor. Probably broke a rib or something while he was at it.

"Wasp! Get-" Ulysses's words were cut off by large quantities of blaster fire. Clearly the troopers had received backup. Wasp took a quick look around and dove for the closest thing to a barricade, which was some politician's speeder. And this one wasn't blaster proofed! Lovely. Simply lovely, he thought.

Before he could use the weapon on hand to take some of the heat off of the commandos, the sky was filled with bright lights and noise. Sirens could be seen and vaguely heard in the distance, barely registering above the roar of LAAT gunship engines.

Achilles looked upwards, shouted something in Mando'a, and quickly said "The fuzz is on us!-" Right before a gunship landed in front of him and Ulysses. Firing very few shots before descending.

A voice could be heard through Wasp's comm, on his personal frequency that he gave the squad during an earlier mission. "Everyone on! We. Are. Leaving!" Alpha Sixty says through the gunships cockpit.

Wasp was surprisingly fast for one so injured, and the gunship was in the air in only a few moments. But in those moments, the vehicles had surrounded them on all sides, and someone was shouting on an open comm channel and out of a voice amplification device.

"This is Lieutenant Divo of the Coruscant Security Force! Lower your altitude and land, or you we will open fire on you!"

After the words 'this is', Captain Wasp realized this meant the comms were clear, as they were jammed up when the group was fighting their way out of the senate! He quickly switched to the 373rd Battalion frequency in his helmet communicator. "This is Captain Wasp, the Senate guard has been compromised. All units move in and neutralize the threat. Trust no-one!" -The line quickly burst into audio static, meaning the jammers had come back online.

But the message got through. And Alpha Sixty turned the LAATs weaponry on the nearby law enforcement transports, with the gunship went to high speeds and completed a full 360 twist, weapons firing all the while. The suprior craft creating many large explosions and surrounding them in smoke as the Republic standard issue weaponry tore through the vehicles of men and women, many of them innocent, and some of them corrupt.

This had all happened in the span of a few moments, and transports belonging to nearly every Republic unit had arrived, trying to get a shot through the confusion. Wasp couldn't see the 373rd gunships landing outside the senate until the front yard of the senate had exploded with blasterfire.

(Sounds like Commander 'Claw' had asked a corrupt man the wrong questions.) Wasp thought quickly, before the LAAT lurched to the side as it grazed a building. Gunships did not usually attain this speed, and it was especially dangerous on Coruscant, with buildings being EVERYWHERE.

"Everybody grab a rail!" Ulysses exclaimed, reaching his hand up to hold onto that one piece of support on this rickety ride of insanity. Wasp saw Achilles run over to the cockpit and adjusted the sound filter in his helmet so that he could hear better. Ulysses was listening also.

"Where are we headed?" Achilles asked Alpha, his orange armor turning a dark hue as the red lighting came on inside the gunship, its doors having been sealed as soon as its weapons first lit up.

"I have an apartment reserved as a safehouse! An...acquaintance of mine keeps it hidden from everyone. It has two rooms that are sealed off and are resistant to most scanners, but the centre room has a large window. That's the only downside!"

"Great, but I don't see how a gunship can get us there after we used it to shred apart several of Coruscant's many police forces-"

"We're not taking the gunship." Alpha said, remaining perfectly calm. His face keeping it's stoic expression and his voice reaching a matter-of-fact tone.

"Then wha-" "We're crashing the gunship while Wasp's men keep the heat off long enough for us to grapple our way into an old building, where we will lay a false trail and quickly move to the apartments in sector C-3."

Wasp walked over, his arms switching between rails to avoid falling over. He glanced at the panel's comm frequency. It was broadcasting the Grand Army Of The Republic communications, with so much coming through that he could make out the shouting of soldiers as they fought for their very lives. He gazed down at the floor, thinking about what he had just done. He had ordered his entire battalion to their deaths! If any of his commanding officers survived this, they would surely brand him a traitor. With more reason to do so then the entire Republic.

It did not matter that he had been involved in an attack on the Senate building. He could have easily been framed for that. But the orders given on COMM were clearly his and his alone.

CT-7537 Awoke on a couch in a dimly lit room. He grabbed his DC15s from the small table nearby. His ribs and joints ached, but the commandos had patched him up well enough.

He quickly put on his armor as his thoughts raced back to what had happened before he fell asleep...

They had crashed the gunship, forsaking it in midair as the smoke from several explosives covered their grappled descent onto a nearby building. Achilles had done a fantastic job, leaving several false trails that the investigators and manhunters would be tracking for most of the day. Then they had made their way to the apartments under the cover of darkness and attended to their injuries. Alpha Sixty had quite a few nasty bruises from what Sidious had done to him, that, and he had lost his left arm and piloted a Republic gunship with ONLY one. Then the commandos just... Left. They told him they 'had to tie up a few loose ends'. That sounded fairly ominous.

And then he had gotten that call. It was on his personal COMM. He had only given the code to a few individuals, but it was being used on a regular basis now.

"Wasp, come in Wasp, are you there?"

"Yeah..." He recognized that voice. It was Master Jar Masusa of the Jedi Order. Infamous for saving Coruscant from the many Separatist assaults that had wracked the planet less then a month ago. "You're at the apartments district?"

"Yes. Sector C-52, second to last floor. Door #3."

"Alright. I'm headed to you now. By the way, is RC-66 'Alpha Sixty' there-?"

Wasp realized what he had just done, and had severed the communications link.

The jedi master deactivated his commlink with a sigh. "Stang it, Wasp." He said in annoyance before going to his speeder.

The Arrowhead captain's thoughts raced like podracers on Tatooine.

I just gave away our position... ..To a Jedi. They could be in on this. They could be Palpatine's enforcers! He already had his nose in their affairs. That made sense. And I heard somewhere that Sith are crinkin' competitive. The slimos were probably fighting each other for control of the galaxy, with the jedi and clone army on one side and the Seps on the other! He interrupted his line of thought for a moment. This was Jar Mafusu. The accomplished tactician who had led small armies into massive battles and made sure as many made it out as possible. After nearly every battle he would voice his distaste of warfare, considering 50% casualties as more of a defeat then a victory.

He could trust THIS Jedi in particular. And if he was wrong... Well, an arrow has to stop sometime in it's lifespan, with the arrow cracking under pressure, hitting it's target, or falling to the ground, never to be retrieved.


	4. A critical Mistake

The unsure Captain Wasp sat on a couch only a short distance from the door.

This was the only place in the apartment with large windows. An ambush could end him right here and now. What a shame that would be, as it would wreck this comfortable couch...

The door went down with explosive force. Mafusu entered the apartment in a hearbeat, disarming Wasp of his blaster before he so much as left his sitting position.

When the somewhat startled Arrowhead did arise, he didn't draw his knife from the sheath on his chest plate. He and the 373rd had served under Jar Mafusu on several occasions, and he had thought the Jedi master would see his situation and assist him. Words were needed here. Not blades.

...Not that blades would get him out of this mess in the worst possible scenario. He had his lightsaber activated.

"Sir, what!?-" "IS ALPHA SIXTY HERE?"

"No."

"Are you with him?"

"Yes sir."

"Captain, do you know why I am here?"

"Er..."

"To execute you for attempting to assassinate the chancellor!" Mafusu exclaimed, moving himself into a fighting stance.

"Impossible, he's dead!"

The Arrowhead Trooper was confused. He had seen the commandos batter and beat the downed Sith lord and leave him with the evidence in his lap. Are Sith able to resurrect themselves? And would this ability be exclusive to the Chancellor? He'd have to think on that. Later. He had a Jedi to convince. And they were a stubborn lot.

"Sir, I entered the Chancellor's office with Hornet platoon and the Commando squad for a mission debriefing. He attacked us and killed all of my men! We escaped under fire from the Senate defence forces and the 373rd were routed when I called them in for support!"

The Jedi was as close to losing his temper. As much as a jedi could, being emotionally controlled and all.

"Don't lie to me, Captain! The Seperatists attacked the Senate building and the 373rd assisted nearby police forces in dealing with them!" Master Jar Mafusu said, flipping open a holographic device, which showed a massive number of B2 Super Battledroids firing on the 373rd and the senate building.

Wasp activated his own piece of hardware. Showing the confrontation between the Sith and Clones.

The look on the seasoned Jedi's face was almost that of shock and surprise. He then narrowed his eyes and spoke quietly. "We had felt a dark presence surrounding the senate for some time, but could never..."

He paused, glancing towards the window. Wasp's head followed for a split second.

There was a gunship outside, with a red and black paintjob and several decals all over the front. The pilot could not be seen through the cockpit, which had a filtered screen.

Jar Mafusu used the force to propel himself and Captain Wasp across the apartment, his lightsaber deflecting any of the high powered blaster bolts that actually came within range of them. They both rolled out the open doorway, the room behind them in pieces. The cozy furniture and furnishings had been compeltely destroyed. The Jedi and Clone fugitive raced down the hall, the sound of blaster fire behind them. They covnersed as they ran.

"Shock troopers."

"Probably."

"Why did they fire on you? They were on your side."

"I suppose they had orders to hunt me down if I didn't kill you on sight!"

They entered the elevator, the jedi master used the force to send every single elvator on that floor to the very bottom at high speeds that would most likely damage their mechanisms.

The elevator hit the ground with a massive THWUMP. And they ran again.

There would be lots of running before this was over.

Ten armored figures stood outside, awaiting the traitors.

Nine of them were obviously Shock troopers, but the tenth was different. His armor was pitch black and blood red, with knives, grenades, munitions, and other devices attached to his utility belts. A high powered weapon vaguely resembling the DC15-S resting in his hands.

The Shock troopers only knew him by his numbers, but his brothers knew him as 'Jaws' of the 77th Zillo ARC unit. A group of soldiers known for their brutality and general ruthlessness. GAR Command sent them on missions that would normally be known as suicide ones. The 77th had a nasty habit of turning cold hearted mercenaries into stumbling shells of what they once were, and CIS ambushes quickly changed into massive routs.

Their first OPs had resulted in the deaths of many Clone Troopers. Instead of having these highly trained troopers executed, they were set aside as a taskforce that normally worked alone. If they had to work with anyone else, they would be split up, spread out, or held in reserve in order to keep as many of them off the field as possible.

The Shocks didn't so much as look at his visor. They had heard the stories.

A set of doors leading into the apartment complex were flung into two of the troopers, injuring both of them. The Shock troopers shot into the doorway until they had to reload.

"Spread out. Kill anything inside." Jaws said sharply. The eight remaining clones advanced on the entrance, and then beeping noises filled the air as ten thermal detonators met them at full speed. Body parts and pieces of armor were all that remained.

Wasp was hidden behind the corner before the doorways, an empty standard issue Republic pack in his hands, he dropped it and drew his DC-15S as Jar Mafusu approached him.

"Nicely done, General."

"I didn't see you grab that bag on the way out, Wasp. Where did you get it?"

"Found it on the floor, Sir."

"...Alright. I'm sensing one lifeform outside-"

The lifeform mentioned was Jaws, and he had already made the distance between them. The fight lasted a few minutes before an explosion went off and a stun blast was fired. Jaws dragged Mafusu away from the complex, leaving a wounded Wasp behind.

He left an Arrowhead behind. That was not only unusual for the 77th, it was a critical mistake.


End file.
